The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has been delayed yet again. Developer Daedalic Entertainment and publisher Nacon released a statement earlier today confirming they need a few more months to get Gollum ready for release.
"We are dedicated to meeting our community's expectations and uncovering the untold story of Gollum in a way that honors the vision of J.R.R. Tolkien," wrote Nacon and Daedalic Entertainment. "That being said, in order to deliver the best possible experience, we have decided to push the release of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum by a few months. We'll update with an exact timing in the near future."
First announced in 2019 for a tentative release of 2021, Gollum was delayed to 2022 thanks to ongoing difficulties in development brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, Nacon announced Lord of the Rings: Gollum would hit consoles and PC on September 1, but today's delay brings into doubt whether the game will even be released this year.
Described as a story-driven stealth action adventure game, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum tells the story of the former hobbit's journey to retrieve the One Ring from Bilbo Baggins, leaving the Misty Mountains and traveling across Middle Earth. The latest trailer revealed the many beautiful landscapes that the player will be presented with, alongside a confrontation with ringwraiths and many well-known characters from the Lord of the Rings franchise.
Being a lowly creature, Gollum prefers to avoid combat using stealth and trickery. The player will be able to throw rocks as a distraction, but also use sharpened stones to assassinate targets. However, the player should only resort to violence when absolutely necessary as Golum's feeble strength requires several agonizingly long seconds to bring down an orc. At least, according to the previews from last year. Things could have drastically changed since then.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will hit PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC first when it launches, with a Switch release to arrive soon after. We'll be sure to update you when Daedalic Entertainment and Nacon know when Gollum is ready.